History Recap / StarTrekPicardS3E04NoWinScenario

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Tragic example. When Shaw blasts Picard with both barrels, Picard doesn't respond with vitriol and defensiveness, the way he did when [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E01E02Emissary Sisko]] threw it in his face. (He's had three decades to come to peace with it, not three years.) Today, he calmly accepts -- and, indeed, ''agrees with'' -- Shaw's anger, stops Jack from defending him, and simply removes the triggering stimulus (himself) from Shaw's presence. Only afterwards do we see that it has cut Picard deeply. While Picard was just as much a victim of the Borg as the 11,000 dead were, he knows that this fact won't bring them back nor make amends for their deaths.

** Shaw mentions how 11,000 people died at Wolf 359, like Admiral Satie did in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E21TheDrumhead The Drumhead]]."

* OhCrap: When Ensign La Forge shows up offering to help, Shaw has one when she asks a rather specific question about what would happen if they only had one of the two nacelles open... while holding a torch in her hand and standing over the man who is the only one able to open the nacelles.

** Riker, in "[[Recap/StarTrekPicardS3E01TheNextGeneration The Next Generation]]," implies that he and Deanna are having marital problems. In this episode, he explains that the death of his son Thaddeus has weighed heavily on him, causing him to become a nihilist; and Deanna, TheEmpath, couldn't deal with that darkness. The only problem with this is that neither of them showed ''any'' evidence of this during "[[Recap/StarTrekPicardS1E07Nepenthe Nepenthe]]".
** Picard's "Starfleet is the only family I have ''ever'' needed" rings hollow when you recall that this conversation took place in 2396, when ''he had already resigned from it'' in the wake of the Romulan Supernova and the destruction of Mars (''PIC'': "[[Recap/StarTrekPicardS1E01Remembrance Remembrance]]").

* SurvivorGuilt: Shaw was an engineer during Wolf 359, and was one of ten officers out of fifty who was selected to evacuate in the remaining escape pod. He doesn't get why he, "a dipshit from Chicago," deserved to live more than those other forty souls.

** The episode title is of course a reference to the ''Kobayashi Maru'' no-win scenario used in Starfleet training simulations, first mentioned in ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan''.

Picard takes Jack to a holodeck simulation of Ten Forward LA, alongside some other crewmembers who are taking shelter there. The two start getting to know each other over (syntheholic) whiskey, swapping tales of their various adventures, but are interrupted by Shaw, who is still hopped up on painkillers for his broken leg, internal injuries and etc. He asks if Picard has told Jack about his adventures on Stardate 44002.3 -- [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E26S4E1TheBestOfBothWorlds the Battle of Wolf 359]], in which Shaw, then a lowly engineer, lost tons of friends and barely survived. In addition to his fury at Locutus of Borg, the architect of the CurbStompBattle, he is clearly haunted by SurvivorGuilt over the subject: "Why-- why me? I'm just some dipshit from Chicago." Picard, politely, withdraws from the holodeck, and Shaw, left with his crew, has a moment of self-awareness: "Forgive me. At some point, 'asshole' became a substitute for charm."

On the ''Shrike'', Vadic cuts off her own hand. Don't worry, this is normal for her: she's a Changeling as well, or at least Changeling-adjacent, and the severed hand becomes some method by which she can reach her superiors. They order her to pursue the ''Titan'' and retrieve Jack Crusher at all costs, seeing her and her ship as [[WeHaveReserves expendable]]. Accordingly, the ''Shrike'' jettisons its portal gun, which will not work in the nebula, and wades in.

Beverly has been timing the bioelectric energy pulses. They're repetitive and rhythmic, and she likens them to contractions. Whatever space lifeform is in the nebula, it's about to give birth. She, Jack and Picard concoct ThePlan and present it to Riker: to not only ride the energy wave out of the Ryton Nebula, but to use it to recharge the ship. Riker, feeling TheChainsOfCommanding, is unwilling to risk it at first, but is swayed by a DareToBeBadass argument from Picard -- and a reminder that the three of them have made that dare successfully before. To make the plan work, they will have to divert power from ''all'' remaining systems -- including, eventually, life support, though this will be held until last -- in order to get up enough speed to surf on the wave instead of having it just wash over them; they also need the help of "some dipshit from Chicago" to repurpose the warp nacelles to absorb the energy.

Shaw and Seven get to work, with Shaw observing that, if the Changeling ''really'' wanted to be a SpannerInTheWorks, this would be the perfect place to do it. Accordingly, when Sidney La Forge shows up to offer whatever "WrenchWench is InTheBlood" expertise she can, Shaw is already suspicious: he left orders with Captain Riker to not send any sort of help whatsoever. When Ensign La Forge tries to explain herself to "Commander Hansen," the OutOfCharacterAlert seals the deal: Seven opens fire, and the Changeling is dealt with for good and all. Meanwhile, the energy wave charges the ship, and Riker deals with the waiting ''Shrike'' by ''throwing an asteroid at it'', disabling her for at least an hour and allowing the ''Titan'' to make her escape amidst a cloud of newly-born space jellyfish.

* ADayInTheLimelight: Captain Liam Shaw gets a significant amount of CharacterDevelopment in this episode, showing his DarkAndTroubledPast as a ShellShockedSurvivor, but also his decision to grab the JerkassBall to NeverBeHurtAgain.

Picard takes Jack to a holodeck simulation of Ten Forward LA. The two start getting to know each other over (syntheholic) whiskey, swapping tales of their various adventures, but are interrupted by Shaw, who is still hopped up on painkillers for his broken leg, internal injuries and etc. He asks if Picard has told Jack about his adventures on Stardate 44002.3 -- [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E26S4E1TheBestOfBothWorlds the Battle of Wolf 359]], in which Shaw, then a lowly engineer, lost tons of friends and barely survived. In addition to his fury at Locutus of Borg, he is clearly haunted by SurvivorsGuilt over the subject: "Why-- why me? I'm just some dipshit from Chicago. Now I'm... lucky number ten." Picard, politely, withdraws from the holodeck, and Shaw, left with his crew, has a moment of self-awareness: "Forgive me. At some point, 'asshole' became a substitute for charm."

On the ''Shrike'', Vadic cuts off her own hand. Don't worry, this is normal for her: she's a Changeling as well, or at least Changeling-adjacent, and the severed hand becomes some method by which she can reach her superiors. They order her to pursue the ''Titan'' and retrieve Jack Crusher at all costs, seeing her and her ship as [[WeHaveReserves expendable]].

Beverly has been timing the bioelectric energy pulses. They're repetitive and rhythmic, and she likens them to contractions. She, Jack and Picard concoct ThePlan and present it to Riker: to not only ride the energy wave out of the Ryton Nebula, but to use it to recharge the ship. Riker, feeling TheChainsOfCommanding, is unwilling to risk it at first, but comes to see that a slim chance is better than none at all, and the command crew unites in purpose. To make the plan work, they will have to divert power from ''all'' remaining systems -- including, eventually, life support, though this will be held until last -- in order to get up enough speed to surf on the wave instead of having it just wash over them; they also need the help of "some dipshit from Chicago" to repurpose the warp nacelles to absorb the energy. Shaw and Seven get to work, with Shaw noticing that, if the Changeling ''really'' wanted to be a SpannerInTheWorks, this would be the perfect place to do it. Accordingly, when Sidney La Forge shows up to offer what engineering expertise she can, Shaw is already suspicious: he left orders with Captain Riker to not send anyone whatsoever. When Ensign La Forge tries to explain herself to "Commander Hansen," Seven opens fire, and the Changeling is dealt with for good and all. Meanwhile, the energy wave charges the ship, and Riker deals with the waiting ''Shrike'' by ''throwing an asteroid at it'', disabling her for at least an hour and allowing the ''Titan'' to make her escape amidst a cloud of newly-born space jellyfish.

Back in the {{flashback}}, Picard begs for a chance to actually eat his lunch, but is interrupted by a young man in a baseball cap. It's five years ago, so Picard does not recognize a teenage Jack Crusher Jr. The civilian asks if Picard has ever had a biological family, and Picard, playing to his audience, declares, "Young man, Starfleet has been the only family I have ''ever'' needed." The ensigns applaud. [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou The teenager disappears]].

In the present day, a hopeless Jean-Luc Picard stews at a window while Capt. Riker gets the status reports from the ''Titan''[='s=] bridge crew. TL;DR, shit's fucked: the ship doesn't have enough power to get out, and also doesn't have enough power to run life support for more than a few hours, especially as it's being shellacked by those bioelectric energy waves from the nebula. Riker visits Picard and suggests he spend his last few remaining hours getting to know his son.

Seemingly without hope of escape, Picard and Riker get their final affairs in order, while Seven pursues the Changeling saboteur.

* PaperTiger: A variation with Vadic during the communication with her Changeling superior. The figurative, if not literal mask, comes off and it's revealed Vadic's FauxAffably Evil and AxCrazy persona is just that: a persona. The ''real'' Vadic is deferential and even timid.

* Foil: The confirmation that Shaw is a Wolf 359 veteran makes him one to ''Deep Space Nine'''s Benjamin Sisko. Shaw is very much what Sisko could've become if he'd held on to his trauma and anger towards Picard for decades.

** Jack refers to the time Captain Picard used the docking thrusters to avoid an asteroid in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E6BoobyTrap "Booby Trap]]."

* MythologyGag: The episode title is, again, a reference to ''Star Trek II'' and the ''Kobayashi Maru''.

** Shaw mentions how 11,000 people died at Wolf 359, like Admiral Satie did in "The Drumhead."

** Jack asks Picard how long he'll be keeping his hair. Picard tells Jack to enjoy the hair while he can, echoing the moment in the TNG episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E21Bloodlines Bloodlines]]" where he told Jason Vigo he'd never look at his hairline the same again.

** Picard compares the nebula entity to the aliens from the TNG pilot "Farpoint".
* ContinuityNod

* DareToBeBadass: Riker isn't exactly sold on the "ride the energy wave" plan, but Beverly and Picard convince him that they need to what they've spent their entire lives being good at: getting out of dangerous situations with insane plans.

* PrecisionFStrike: Picard drops one while sitting in a recreation of holodeck creation of 10 Forward, talking about the time he and Jack Crusher managed to bring their disabled shuttlecraft back to the ''Stargazer''.

* ContinuityNod: As in ''Voyager'', the holodeck is noted to run on an independent power cell. Picard justifies this as a way of making sure the crew has some respite even in the bleakest of circumstances.

* CallBack: The episode title is of course a reference to the ''Kobayashi Maru'' no-win scenario used in Starfleet training simulations, first mentioned in ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan''.
* DeathOfAThousandCuts: The ''Titan''-A's situation in the [[https://youtu.be/5lo-hyUHeVA?t=1898 preview clip]] and with all of the cumulative damage from the last two episodes. Lieutenant Mura even lampshades it, saying ''Titan'' is bleeding to death.
* FromBadToWorse: In the ''Ready Room'' [[https://youtu.be/5lo-hyUHeVA?t=1898 preview clip]], the ''Titan''-A is sinking down the gravity well of the Ryton Nebula. Power's failing, weapons are offline, and Vadic's still out there. And then to make things more fun, there's apparently some kind of anomaly in the middle of said gravity well.
* MortonsFork: The grim situation facing the ''Titan''-A in the ''Ready Room'' [[https://youtu.be/5lo-hyUHeVA?t=1898 preview clip]]. If they don't divert power to the life-support systems ''now'', everyone's going to die from asphyxiation. But if they ''do'' divert said power, then the damaged Warp and Impulse engines won't have enough juice to get them out of the gravity well. And on top of all it, they ''have'' to use systems, but the more systems they use, the faster their remaining power is depleted.

* SinkingShipScenario: The ''Ready Room'' [[https://youtu.be/5lo-hyUHeVA?t=1898 preview clip]] shows the ''Titan'''s descent down the Ryton Nebula's gravity well is akin to a sinking submarine/ship scenario. Riker even lampshades it.

* {{CallBack}}: The episode title is of course a reference to ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan''.

* MortonsFork: The grim situation facing the ''Titan''-A in the ''Ready Room'' [[https://youtu.be/5lo-hyUHeVA?t=1898 preview clip]]. If they don't divert power to the life-support systems ''now'', everyone's going to die from asphyxiation. But if they ''do'' divert said power, then the damaged Warp and Impulse engines won't have enough juice to get them out of the gravity well.